As Obama and the First Lady take a conveniently timed get-out-of-the-country junket to India to dance off their shellacking and Nancy Pelosi cracks her knuckles to become House Minority Leader, and with less than a week since midterms were held, it’s a good time to reflect on the indefatigable, eyeball-to-eyeball election work of Governor Mitt Romney.

In the past few months he stuffed his suitcase to travel to 30 states – yes, 30 – and campaigned for 60 candidates – most of the time doing multiple events for them in the same day. Putting money where one’s mouth is really counts at election time and Romney didn’t disappoint on that front, either. Impressively, Romney’s Free and Strong America PAC donated over $1.1 million to assist over 500 candidates across the USA – the most money raised and distributed by any potential 2012 candidates’ PAC.

Gov Romney summarized his perspective of the past several months in a post-election blog entry:

As I wrote in a new Washington Post op-ed this morning, Americans across the country have sent a very strong message to President Obama and his fellow travelers in Congress that they have had enough of their anti-growth, anti-investment, anti-jobs agenda.

Over the past two years, their policies scared employers, so jobs are scarce. The uncertainty and lack of predictability they created has caused businesses to shrink from spending and from hiring. Instead of helping to end the crisis, they made it deeper, longer and more painful.

But last night, we took a big first step toward getting our economy — and our country — back on the right track.

At last report, Republicans had regained control of the House with a net gain of over 60 seats, as well as seeing net gains of at least six seats in the Senate and at least six Governorships.

With your help, we’ve been working hard at my Free and Strong America PAC to spread the core principles that are at the heart of making America a stronger nation and which fortify our party — that a competitive America is one where taxes are low and government is small, that our military superiority must never be compromised, that our cultural values need to be cherished and that unleashing the power of the free market is key to our economic future.

All told, your support gave me the resources to campaign for over 60 candidates in over 30 states and my PAC contributed over $1.1 million in direct support to over 500 candidates and conservative causes across the nation.

Your support was critical to us giving candidates like South Carolina Governor-elect Nikki Haley the help she needed to win by providing the resources for me to travel to South Carolina on her behalf and send $63,000 in direct contributions to her campaign through my PAC. You also helped us campaign for and send nearly $17,000 in direct support to New Mexico’s Governor-elect Susana Martinez, who is our nation’s first Hispanic female to be elected governor.

This year I’ve also worked hard to promote our shared conservative ideals by giving speeches at the Conservative Political Action Conference, the Values Voter Summit, and the AEI World Forum, and delivering the Annual Reagan Lecture at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.

In addition, I also had the opportunity to travel the country discussing my book, “No Apology: The Case for American Greatness.” It was great reconnecting with old friends and making new ones as I traveled across the country talking about what we need to do to ensure we remain the world’s economic and military superpower.

We should all be proud of what we’ve accomplished together this year, and I look forward to working with you in the months ahead to build upon these victories and ensure that America remains, as it always has been, the beacon of freedom and hope for the world.

In all the coverage read and seen of Romney’s midterm work, one could plainly sense the gravitas he brought to bear to each candidate’s campaigns. Also plain to see was the real appreciation and enthusiasm he felt for each candidate.

A look back at 2008 – Romney’s message is just as timely now, if not more so, than it was then:

In his quest to elect conservatives, who can count the number of speeches Gov Romney gave, the number of hours of missed of sleep, and the number of hands he shook? Impressive, indeed. By the way, there’s some talk floating around about whether the Tea Party will ‘invite‘ Romney to the 2012 table… Of all the 2012 potential candidates, he did the most to put tea in their pot!

America needs a talker…
who knows what he is talking about…
who is a doer.

Obama will make history for more than one reason during the Nov 6-9 visit. This will be the first time a teleprompter will be used in the nearly 100-feet high dome-shaped hall that has portraits of eminent national leaders adorning its walls.

Indian politicians are known for making impromptu long speeches and perhaps that is why some parliament officials, who did not wish to be named, sounded rather surprised with the idea of a teleprompter for Obama.

“We thought Obama is a trained orator and skilled in the art of mass address with his continuous eye contact,” an official, who did not wish to be identified because of security restrictions, said.

Obama is known to captivate audiences with his one-liners that sound like extempore and his deep gaze. But few in India know that the US president always carries the teleprompter with him wherever he speaks.

Nate, I agree. The Palinites may say they say there is a women problem, but they don’t see one. They cannot possibly. They just hope he does because of a foolish notion that smearing the next guy helps their gal.

I sure wish Republicans would stop backbiting at a time like this. This is a turning point, a second chance. We should all voice support for ALL of our Republican voices. This is the time to come together and shine a good light on all.

For those of you that like Romney, I’m waiting patiently for the debates to start. We all know that Mitt destroyed the others two years ago. McCain had terrible debate skills. When Mitt talked he rudely looked away and acted like he wasn’t listening. When others spoke you could see Mitt listened intently.
Great skills by Romney, and a true professional. I felt huckabee did well, but we all know his weaknesses and that he’s not ready yet for this important cycle of America, as Mitt has trained his whole life for this moment. Palin is a nice lady and did a lot of good in Alaska, but she too is untrained for this unique time in our history.